Barcelona is the fourth EU city with the most funding rounds in 2021

The attractiveness of Barcelona and the ecosystem of Catalan startups has become more evident throughout 2021, with a record number of operations and investment attraction, which in most cases correspond to growth and consolidation projects for emerging companies' businesses, as demonstrated by the volume of capital obtained. A circumstance that evidences the maturity of technology firms and consolidates the city as one of Europe's main technology and innovation hubs.

So much so that Barcelona, with 207 closed investment operations, was the fourth city in the European Union (EU) with the most financing rounds carried out in 2021. By the volume of investment attracted, 1,479 million euros, the highest ever recorded, Barcelona ranks sixth in the European ranking.

It should be noted that 51% of the total volume obtained comes from rounds exceeding 88 million euros (100 million dollars), among which those carried out by Glovo (450 million euros), Wallapop (157 million euros), or Travelperk (132 million euros) stand out. For the resources obtained, the operations of Userzoom (85 million euros), Factorial (67 million euros), Colvin (45 million), or Wallbox (33 million), among others, were also notable.

The investment figure of almost 1,500 million euros obtained last year triples the 427 million euros of 2020, doubling the 784 million of 2019. It is also 65% higher than that of 2018 (897 million), which until now was the highest figure in the historical series. With these investment volumes, the Catalan capital is positioned ahead of technology hubs such as Amsterdam or Munich and only behind Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm, within the 27 EU countries, according to calculations by Acció, the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Department of Business and Work, based on the international database Dealroom.

75% of the capital raised corresponds to foreign investors and local interest is growing

Despite the fact that foreign technological investment still has the most capital available for startups and last year provided 75% of the demanded resources, "the number of local investors is increasingly significant because they are more internationally connected and act as both financiers and a draw for other sources of foreign capital," Aguasca explains.

Likewise, it is also important, according to the Acció executive, that the ecosystem maintains the momentum of the years prior to the pandemic, given that last year a significant number of companies, the so-called scaleups, raised more than one million dollars (880,000 euros) in funding. Specifically, there were 310 firms, not counting acquisitions or those listed on the stock exchange. "This is the thermometer that marks the health of the Catalan ecosystem and Barcelona's technology and innovation hub," Aguasca insists.

From Q-commerce to deeptech

By sectors, 2021 has been the year for fast e-commerce businesses ---Quick Commerce, in English--- with operations such as that of Glovo, which last April closed its largest funding round with 450 million euros, which has allowed it, among other things, to address greater growth that has led, months later, to a change in its shareholding. But sectors such as the digitalization of finance (fintech), construction and real estate (proptech), or insurance (insurtech) have not lagged either, according to Acció data. Among them are cases such as Ukio or Housfy, in the real estate area; or Vitaance and Weecover, in finance.

From Acció, Jordi Aguasca mentions that, beyond this trinomial, innovations related to digitalization in general, or sustainability and health, in particular, have aroused growing interest among local and foreign investors. "Startups and others already more consolidated in segments that aim at the preservation of the planet, such as deeptech, foodtech or healthtech, to name a few, are gaining a very interesting growth speed that attracts capital." Examples include the software development firm for the hotel sector Amenitiz, the software from Holded, the plant-based meat manufacturer Heura, the digital platform for medical appointments Top Doctors, the artificial intelligence firm for the pharmaceutical sector Abzu, or Volava, to name a few.